Dustin Hoffman

Dustin Hoffman is a legendary American actor whose four-decade run at multiplexes has earned him a whopping seven Oscar nominations, and it’s not surprising to note that the actor has worked alongside some of Hollywood’s best and brightest (including Tom Cruise, Robert Redford and Johnny Depp). Dustin Hoffman’s work on the stage has earned him the respect and admiration of his peers, while there’s little doubt that he remains able to successfully open a movie based solely on his name value.

Appeal

Dustin Hoffman would be the first to admit that he’s never exactly possessed the kind of looks that one generally associates with a typical leading man: "I grew up thinking a movie star,” he says, “had to be like Rock Hudson or Tab Hunter, certainly nobody in any way like me.” Still, there’s little doubt that his undeniably masculine work in such films as The Graduate and Marathon Man has essentially transformed him into an unlikely sex symbol among many of his female fans. Dustin Hoffman has spent the majority of his adult life married, though his relationship with his first wife ended in 1980 (he remarried that same year, however). Dustin Hoffman’s keen ability to remain in touch with his more feminine side was keenly reflected in 1982’s Tootsie in which he played a struggling actor who decided to pass himself off as a woman to land a juicy soap opera role.

Success

Dustin Hoffman has been working steadily since making his starring debut with 1967’s seminal The Graduate, with his choices running the gamut from mainstream popcorn fare (1976’s Marathon Man and 1990’s Dick Tracy) to challenging art-house experiments (1974’s Lenny and 2006’s Perfume: The Story of a Murderer). And while some of his peers have chosen to step out of the limelight as they get older, Dustin Hoffman continues to challenge himself by tackling exceedingly varied roles in films that are far from surefire hits. Following his memorable turn as the title character in 2007’s Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, Dustin Hoffman also lent his voice to two highly anticipated animated efforts -- the Jack Black comedy Kung Fu Panda and an adventure entitled The Tale of Despereaux. Dustin Hoffman also tackled a romantic leading man role in Last Chance Harvey in which he starred opposite Emma Thompson as an older fellow who receives a new lease on life after falling in love.

Dustin Hoffman Biography

Dustin Lee Hoffman was born on August 8, 1937, in Los Angeles, California. Dustin Hoffman grew up surrounded by show business, as his mother worked as a jazz pianist and his father started out as a set decorator at Columbia Pictures. Dustin Hoffman didn’t discover acting until college, however, as he signed up for a drama class to help boost his overall average. Though he eventually dropped out of the school after only a year, Dustin Hoffman found that he had been bitten by the acting bug and subsequently began pursuing a career within the arts.

Along with his friend Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman began taking on roles at California’s famed Pasadena Playhouse, though he also found himself forced to take on a series of odd jobs to pay his bills. After toiling for two years within the Playhouse, Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman moved to New York City to pursue more opportunities and it wasn’t long before the aspiring actor began landing roles on off-Broadway plays and locally shot television shows.

dustin hoffman in the graduate

Though he was set to make his starring debut with a role opposite Gene Wilder in Mel Brooks’ classic 1968 comedy The Producers, Dustin Hoffman instead found himself offered the leading role of Benjamin Braddock in Mike Nichols’ The Graduate. Ironically, working alongside Mel Brooks’ wife Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman’s indelible performance as an alienated twentysomething propelled him to instant stardom, and the newly minted superstar found himself nominated for an Oscar.

His days of working soul-killing jobs over, Dustin Hoffman now found that he had his pick of some of Hollywood’s most sought-after projects, with one of his first post-The Graduate choices being the equally memorable 1969 drama Midnight Cowboy. His searing performance as Ratso Rizzo earned him his second Oscar nomination, and Dustin Hoffman subsequently spent the 1970s appearing on one classic film after another, including 1971’s controversial Straw Dogs, 1974’s Lenny (for which he was once again nominated for an Oscar) and 1976’s All the President’s Men.

dustin hoffman wins an oscar

Dustin Hoffman closed out the decade with a role in the ripped-from-the-headlines drama Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), and eventually managed to beat out such illustrious competition as Al Pacino and Jack Lemmon to take home an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role. While there was little doubt that Dustin Hoffman was now regarded as one of the finest dramatic performers of his generation, the celebrated celebrity, who had never tried his hand at a more light-hearted role, eagerly signed up for a stint as a cross-dressing actor in 1982’s smash hit Tootsie.

Eager to repeat his success with that film, Dustin Hoffman agreed to take on a role opposite Warren Beatty in 1987’s notorious box-office flop Ishtar, which probably would’ve done irreparable damage to his thriving career had he not appeared in the massively successful Rain Man just a year later. As the autism-afflicted Raymond Babbitt, Dustin Hoffman yet again entered the pantheon of indelible cinematic characters and eventually took home his second Oscar for Best Actor.

dustin hoffman in kung fu panda

Thanks to his relentless shooting schedule, Dustin Hoffman managed to rack up a myriad of critical and financial smashes during the ‘90s and ‘00s, including 1995’s Outbreak, 1997’s Wag the Dog and 2004’s Finding Neverland, as well as Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.